Shadow of Myself
by CsillaRising
Summary: Banished to Midgard with the bare remnants of his magic, Loki disguises himself as a human and receives an interesting offer—to become the new assistant CEO for Stark Industries. FrostIron.


**A/N**:Hello everyone! So I probably should be spending my time writing something other than fanfiction... but I admit, the Tony/Loki pairing definitely has me hooked. I've never written anything like this before, so hopefully it's okay.

Here we go! :)

**Story Summary: **Banished to Midgard with the bare remnants of his magic, Loki disguises himself as a human and receives an interesting offer—to become the new assistant CEO for Stark Industries. FrostIron.

**Chapter Summary: **In which Tony makes a mistake, and Loki is somewhat amused.

* * *

**Prologue**

It was both better and worse than he'd expected.

Worse, because he hadn't anticipated being forced off of Asgard again when he'd only just gotten back; but better, because as Asgardian punishments went, being banished to Midgard without the use of his magic was almost mild. He'd supposed Odin had done it in the interest of being _fair_—that his punishment for trying to conquer a realm be equal to Thor's when Thor had attempted the same.

Odin had failed to take something into account, however. When the sorcerers came to strip Loki's magic from him, they had been working under the false assumption that it was _Asgardian _magic they were dealing with. Apparently Odin had not seen fit to entirely disown him and reveal his true parentage to the rest of Asgard…yet. As a result, they had done a poor job of removing his magic. He could no longer perform spells that took a great deal of energy and concentration, but still…

Loki smoothed back his dirty blonde hair and adjusted his new rectangular glasses with a smirk.

Yes, a poor job indeed.

**Chapter One**

_(Three Months Later)_

Tony drummed his fingers distractedly on the conference table and held back a reflexive yawn. _For Pep, _he reminded himself for what seemed like the thousandth time that day. He owed her this much, at least. He tried to focus on the man giving the details of Stark Industry's possible new business venture, but his eyes kept glazing over. Something about scrap metal?

Finally Tony conceded defeat and instead settled for _looking_ as though he was paying attention. _See_, he thought triumphantly, _this was why he needed an assistant._ He sucked at the whole business-y part of his business, and he knew it. Tony Stark might be an egotistical, narcissistic bastard, but he damn well knew when to admit his limits. Okay, well, _no_, but he knew when to admit the limits that he wanted to have, and this was one of them. No more business meetings.

"…right, Mr. Stark?"

Tony jerked slightly. _Shit_. He'd undoubtedly been blatantly staring off into space for the past couple of minutes, and from the irritated looks he was getting from the other businessmen—no wait, that one was female… business men and women? Business people?—they had noticed.

"Uhh… right." Tony gave the speaker a winning smile to make up for the fact that he had no idea what he was agreeing with.

The man looked a little bit smug. "Then we'll see you there. If that's everything, then I believe this meeting is concluded."

Everyone began gathering up their belongings and slowly began to trickle out the door. Some of them stopped to shyly exchange pleasantries with him—mainly the ones that didn't have to deal with him on a daily basis, and thus were still impressed by his debut with the Avengers three months ago—but none of them lingered long. The moment the last person exited, Tony tapped his earpiece and murmured, "JARVIS?"

_Sir?_ The polite British voice responded immediately.

"What the hell did I just agree to?"

_I believe you agreed to make an appearance at the Stark Convention this year. I remind you that previously you had RSVPed as not attending, due to, and I quote, "Avengers business thingies." Mr. Jordan seemed quite pleased with your change of heart._

Tony leaned back in his chair and groaned, "No change of heart Jarvis, just lack of attention. When is this convention again?"

_It begins tomorrow, Sir_. Jarvis sounded decidedly amused, and Tony regretted ever programming in that tone of voice. Not that he thought of Jarvis as a program much anymore. "Fine, I guess I'll stay in New York another day." He had been planning on flying down to the Miami house for a week or so to give Pepper some space (or maybe for not-quite-a-week, since he could barely function without her), but it looked like that would have to wait. Cue more awkward silences.

Tony sighed as he stood. It wouldn't be so bad if more of the Avengers were around. Although they'd taken to staying in Stark Tower in their spare time, Bruce was currently off in some third world country working with an outbreak of Ebola, Clint and Natasha had just up and vanished—presumably on SHIELD Business, and Thor was back on Asgard. After Steve had realized what the awkward tension was between Tony and Pepper, he too had cleared out for a couple of days. Tony really wished he hadn't.

When Pepper had first declared that their relationship was over, Tony thought that she would make up with him when she calmed down. After all, he hadn't done anything wrong. She didn't break up with him because he cheated, or got drunk and did something stupid. No, she left him because he was doing something good, and that was the part that _hurt._

He had known that the fact that he was constantly putting himself in life-threatening situations was stressing her out, but never did he think it would be enough to end their relationship.

And so when he had realized that Pepper was stepping out for real this time, he had whined and wheedled and pressed in a predictably Tony-like fashion to get her to change her mind. But it hadn't worked, and finally Tony was forced to admit that Pepper had always known what was best for Pepper, and since he wanted her to be happy more than anything in the world, he would have to let her go.

The problem was, even when they weren't dating, he needed her. She was still his assistant, and although she was trying to train someone else in the role, he couldn't adjust. Beyond even that, she still had a major role in his company. True she wasn't CEO anymore, but she had taken up the mantel of being his secretary and business assistant as well as his personal one. She was a necessary part of Tony's life. Living without her would be like trying to live without the Arc Reactor.

So now they were just friends and business associates. It was difficult, but Tony was finding that it wasn't impossible. Eventually, he knew they would be back to their easy, playful, _platonic_ banter. It wasn't the "eventually" that was the problem, though, it was the now. And knowing that they were going to be fine later didn't make the _now_ part any more comfortable.

"Jarvis, what time does the convention start up tomorrow?"

_Ten o'clock in the morning, sir. _

"And how late can I acceptably show up?"

_No later than three._

Tony grinned and nodded, "Great. Good enough. Let Pep know I won't be back tonight. Now Jarvis, directions to the nearest bar, if you would."

000000

The establishment was definitely not what anyone would call respectable, Loki decided immediately after stepping inside. His lips curled in disdain at the disgusting antics of the mortals who writhed and grinded on the dance floor. It was his first foray into the local taverns on Midgard, and they apparently were not the place to go to get information as they were in the other realms.

After three months on Midgard, Loki was painfully bored. At first he'd contented himself with minor mischief, but it wasn't enough. Soon he began to see that although the mortals were weak and foolish, they _perhaps _had several innovations that could be called interesting. He'd spent weeks in several public libraries across the state of New York, studying up on everything from linguistics to physics.

He also watched carefully as several petty villains rose and fell, defeated time and time again by the Avengers. He had underestimated the mortals once, but he would not make that mistake again. Now he felt confident he knew exactly what he was dealing with. Still, he was fascinated by the mortal technology that he had read of (and, to an extent, dealt with on a daily basis), and was interested in getting more hands-on information before he attempted anything else. Knowledge was power.

Loki was about to leave the establishment he'd entered in order to seek out another source of information when suddenly something caught his eye. Or to be more precise, some_one_.

Loki froze, eyes riveted to the drunken figure before him. Then, very slowly, he smirked.

This promised to make things more interesting, at the very least.

0000000

The _Sunken Ship_ was a bit more low-brow than the bars he normally frequented, Tony admitted to himself, but after his seventh drink it looked about the same anyway. A curvy brunette had wound her arms about his neck and a pretty red head (who most certainly did _not_ remind him of Pepper in the slightest) sat across his lap, and the evening looked to be progressing quite nicely if he ignored all of the blatant stares he was receiving. Goddamn his new celebrity status. It was one thing to just be _famous_—then you were allowed to be trashy and make mistakes. But go super-hero and hey, no, that's not okay. Well, screw them all.

Tony took another swig of whatever was in his glass and let it burn all of the way down his throat as a man with blondish hair and a lean, lithe figure walked up to the bar beside him. The man leaned casually against the counter and gazed at the listing of drinks as though he could not decide.

Tony cocked his head slightly to get a better look, not bothering to be subtle. Oh, sure, he normally took women home, but really he wasn't too picky as far as gender was concerned, and damn if blondie wasn't _pretty_. All straight lines and intense angles, and those _cheekbones_...

Sharp blue eyes were suddenly fixed on him as the man apparently noticed his gaze. Tony made sure to make his leer extra obvious. He extricated himself from the brunette's arms and slid the red-head off of his lap. Not-Pepper pouted at his lack of attention, but Tony ignored her feeble protest and propped himself up on the bar beside his possible new conquest.

The blonde looked slightly wary at his interest, but didn't leave. That was a good sign, anyway. "So, blondie, what brings you to a place like this… looking for anything or any_one_ in particular?" He put the emphasis in his words to make the intent behind them obvious.

Blondie looked as though he might not get it, though. Clear blue eyes carefully scanned him, considering. Finally he spoke with a slightly lilting accent that Tony couldn't quite place, "No, actually, I was hoping to find a job."

"Oh." Tony thought about this. "_Oh_. Well then. I don't usually pay for it, but it's not like I can't afford to. Sure, hell, why not? You don't have any diseases, right? No wait, don't bother to answer that. Jarvis will let me know one way or the other—so, my place then?"

He watched as confusion clouded the pale blue eyes and the blonde's brow furrowed just slightly. "Forgive me, but I'm not sure I follow you. You are interested in hiring me?"

O-kaaaay… so maybe not the brightest bulb in the circuit, but it's not as though Tony was looking for scintillating conversation. "Yes," he said slowly, "I'm interested in you. Now, did you drive or do you want to take a cab? Because I'm sure as hell not fit to get behind the wheel of anything."

"I suppose we can take a cab," the other replied suspiciously, "But I'm still not certain we are, as you would say, on the same page. Do you not need to see my qualifications? What position would I be taking on?"

"Eh… look, I really couldn't care less. Top? Bottom? What do you normally do?"

He received a blank stare in return. A moment passed before the eyes widened in sudden realization.

"You think that I am a whore."

Tony blinked.

Oh shit. Well. They apparently hadn't been on the same page after all.

0000000

Loki was unsure as to whether he should be angry, offended, or amused. After a moment of grappling with his emotions, he decided on amused. Stark was clearly not very lucid, and although his speech was not affected, his reasoning certainly was. Loki watched him flounder for a moment, curious as to how he would attempt to save face.

"Well that's—come on now, really, it was the only logical—you were asking for a _job_ in a _club_ for fuck's sake, what was I supposed to think?"

The corner of Loki's mouth twitched, "I'm flattered, really Mr. Stark, but I don't believe I'm your type. And as for the job," he shrugged slightly, "I confess I am bored. There is only so much mayhem one can cause before it becomes mundane." Mortals were pathetically easy to mess with, and when you can create money at will it was easy to take whatever he pleased. Any larger, more interesting mischief would draw the gaze of Heimdall, and Loki did not want Odin to realize he still had his magic and attempt to rectify his mistake. Honestly he had just said the first thing he'd thought of when Tony had asked… and he certainly hadn't expected the response he'd gotten.

Tony appeared to be confused for a moment, before saying, "You have an odd sense of humor."

Loki smirked. "So I've been told."

"Well then," Tony shifted his weight, considering, "My chances of getting laid tonight are…"

"Still very high," Loki reassured him, giving Tony a chance to look surprised and encouraged before continuing, "Just not with me. The red-head you left a moment ago seems willing, however." Tony's gaze flickered to the sulking young woman and he winced.

"Yeah, I don't think so. Pretty sure I'd end up calling her by the wrong name and mentally screwing myself over for the next couple of days. And I'm supposed to go to that damn convention tomorrow. Ugh. I probably should just go home. Unless, I mean, you're sure you're not …?"

"Very. If you'll excuse me, Mr. Stark, I believe I will depart for the evening." Loki turned to go before hesitating and turning back in curiosity, an elegant eyebrow raised. "What convention was this, then?"

Tony grimaced and gave the bartender another order. "The Stark convention. You know, the one that goes on every year. Lots of flashy inventions and people looking to make money or steal ideas. Very little of the actual _important_ innovations get publicized there, just the showy stuff that audiences like." The bartender pushed Tony's drink down to him and he quickly downed it.

When he was finished, Loki had gone.

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know if this is something that's worth continuing, or if I should stick to reading fanfiction instead of writing it. ;)

Just so everyone is aware, this chapter is much slashier than the following several will be- It's going to take a while for Tony to get over Pepper, because he still loves her.

Thanks again!

**-Csilla**


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